....And we're back!

Under 11's:  Ella wins one and then loses one

So first an explanation. Two netball games have gone by since I last blogged and there is a reason. Many readers would know that I started a new blog www.oilersonice.com and I have enjoyed launching a new format.

I tried to revamp this website and unfortunately had limited success with the format change. I guess the Tiger's website was always going to be blogger.com. So be it. Back to Ella.

Two weeks ago Ella and her Division 2 team swept through an opposition easily 10-2. They scored early and often and they shut down their opposition. I thought they would be taking a new step, however this week was a stumble backwards.

The Final Score was  Cove  4   -    7    Opposition  (? Team name...they all blur into some form of Ladybug, Firefly, or Unicorn)

The Tigers roared our to an early lead and looked solid and then something started to slip. The forwards started to drop passes and force things into spaces that didn't exist. The net result was a tide reversal and the Tigers quickly lost their lead. The coach was excellent, yelling out directions, changing positions and lavishing encouragements on her players but all to no avail. The game slipped away and they lost yet another match that I think they should have clearly won. 

Ella is adapting to her new position at centre, now accepting that her goal attack career (shooting) is on hold. The coach clearly values Ella's catching (superb), passing skills (average but improving) and intelligence (off the charts...but I am biased...but she is brilliant :). The issue is the new position demands that Ella runs the entire match, covering the entire court. Her fitness is improving and the poor girl looks blasted every time she comes off each quarter. 

The team has so much potential that I think they will make a late run. The coach is experienced and vocal- if they listen, they will win. 

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Under 8's: Taylor loses and continues to do so....spectacularly

Do the scores matter? If they did they would be 23-2 (loss) and 14-0 (loss). But my quirky fashion diva has announced the following on the car ride home Friday night:

" You know Mom, winning or losing doesn't really matter. It is how you play the game."

Insightful, Tay-child. So in the case of the littlest Cove Tigers, the little bugs play the game very well from the perspective of having fun (while getting trounced), cheering for each other (while every pass is intercepted) and trying hard (while they watch the opposition take 10 shots in a row if needed to score).

They are darn cute when they play. They are still employing the BeeHive strategy, unique to this age group, where they swarm the ball-holder screaming "Here! Here!!!". The coaches are wonderful with them, rotating their positions on a strict roster that shows no favoritism and ensuring that they all get a candy after the game, similar to the nurse giving you a lollipop after a flu shot. 

Tay is improving. She can't shoot worth a lick, and she actively defends right up to the point where her opposition is going to get the ball and then she ducks away politely. But! but she runs really hard and has her pudgy, cute arms in the air the entire game.

In closing, a fellow Cove spectator parent said it best. We try so hard to train our kids to share and be polite and look after one another, then we thrust this game on them and yell and encourage them to snatch the ball, block others and avoid passing it to certain people....no wonder there is a tad bit of confusion.

As Tay said, "It is how you play the game".

In the case of the littlest Tiger cubs, the answer to that is very, very badly but doing so while being terribly cute.